WATERLOO, Iowa — She would rather be shaking hands with veterans and hearing their stories than wallowing in her own grief. That's just how Kandie Vaughn chooses to cope.
For the past three years, on the anniversary of the death of her stepson, U.S. Army Spc. Travis Vaughn, Kandie Vaughn has traveled to the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown with a vehicle full of goodies.
Last year she and her helpers spread out the donated playing cards, aftershave, socks, paperback books and disposable razors on tables and allowed residents at the facility to take what they needed.
"There was the longest line of wheelchairs going out and down the hall," Vaughn said.
The toiletries and other items were donated by northeast Iowa residents to her Shower of Gifts event, now in its fourth consecutive year.
Vaughn organizes Shower of Gifts as a tribute to her late stepson and a thank-you to area veterans.
Travis Vaughn, a 1999 graduate of Cedar Falls High School, was killed Feb. 18. 2007, in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.
"You always hear 'never to be forgotten,' " said Kandie Vaughn, a Reinbeck, Iowa, resident.
"This is kind of my way, once a year, standing on a mountain, saying 'Don't forget my son's sacrifice,' " she said.
Two months after Travis died, women with the auxiliary for American Legion Post 242 in Reinbeck invited Kandie Vaughn to join.
Some time after that she took a tour of the Iowa Veterans Home. During the visit she met men and women who had served their country but now had some very modest needs.
Phone cards. Coffee. Postage stamps. Western novels. Word puzzle games (large print). Toothpaste.
As Vaughn chats with the veterans, many are curious about her motivation. When they hear about her loss, they want to know more about Travis and his life. Sometimes the former soldiers share their own stories.
"I do it for them. I do it for the veterans. I do it to keep Travis' memory alive," Vaughn said.
Erin Nunnally is Vaughn's assistant. She and her brother grew up with Travis, and Nunnally holds a place in her heart for her friend and other veterans who make such supreme sacrifices.
"I told her I will do whatever I can for as long as I can," Nunnally said.
This year the delivery is scheduled for Feb. 20.
Collection boxes have been set up at select businesses, bars, veterans posts and schools in Waterloo and Cedar Falls and will be there through Feb. 17. Drop-off sites are also located in Evansdale, Dike, Parkersburg, New Hartford and Hudson.
This year Vaughn enlisted help from the cultural institutions in the Grout Museum District. Donations can be dropped off at the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum. Paper will be available for any visitor who wants to write a note of thanks to veterans.
"We were pleased to be able to do it," said Bob Neymeyer, the veterans project coordinator for the Grout Museum.
The Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum periodically displays the names and pictures of Iowa servicemen and servicewomen who have lost their lives since Sept. 11, 2001. For now the screen will pause for a deceased Cedar Falls soldier.
"We have Travis on our mind because he's close," Neymeyer said.
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